Tuesday, 5 March 2019

After Balakote, India strikes new tone

After demonstrated its resolve, New Delhi must now focus on the alienation in Kashmir

By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 5th Mar 19

The captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot is back home, cross border firing on the Line of Control (LoC) is reducing and India’s military has publicly “committed to maintaining peace and stability in the region”. We can assume this crisis is winding down, although another attack like the one at Pulwama on February 14 could trigger fresh cross-border violence. It is, therefore, worth taking a step back to examine how, and where, the strategic terrain has shifted as a result of India’s pre-emptive strikes. At the same time, we must take careful note of what remains unchanged.

First, a seismic shift has taken place through New Delhi’s ostentatious abandonment of “strategic restraint”. Since the Pulwama attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been telegraphing to India a plea to hold back and resolve matters through dialogue. All through the crisis, Mr Khan urged restraint, even after shooting down an Indian MiG-21 and capturing an IAF wing commander. The very next day, Mr Khan offered to repatriate the pilot as a “gesture of peace”. While that brought him praise for statesmanship and maturity, it was hard to miss the change: suddenly, the rational actor was the Pakistani leader. India’s leader was the unpredictable one. Pakistan’s strategy, one that has been described as “cultivated irrationality”, lies in tatters on the floor. India’s “strategic restraint” has given way to “assured retaliation”.

It is hard to overstate the magnitude and ramifications of this change. Since 1947, India has played the rational and responsible actor in every confrontation with Pakistan. It sent troops to Kashmir only after the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession in October 1947. The next year, India agreed, despite its military momentum, to wind down the Kashmir war by referring the dispute to the United Nations. In early 1965, so restrained was New Delhi during the skirmish with Pakistan in Kutch that President Ayub Khan concluded India would not have the stomach to confront a tribal invasion, or a Pakistani ground force intervention in Kashmir later that year. The rational player theme was again evident in 1999, when India pushed out Pakistani infiltrators from Kargil while consciously restraining its aircraft and ground forces from crossing the LoC. Through years of cross border terrorism and militancy – in Nagaland, Mizoram, Punjab, Kashmir, the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993 and the 26/11 strike in 2008 – India demonstrated restraint. In 2001-02, when the terrorist attack on Parliament provoked New Delhi into mobilising its military, the rationality of Indian decision-makers brought the army back to its barracks without drawing blood. Soon after, India developed the “Cold Start” doctrine that envisions Indian battle groups pouring into Pakistan as soon as a provocation occurs. However, Pakistani forward deployment and its deployment of tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) have held back rational Indian decision-makers from entering into this escalatory spiral.

All along, Rawalpindi (Pakistan Army’s headquarters, where the real decisions are made) has duped a rational New Delhi into believing that Pakistan would respond irrationally to any Indian punishment. Pakistan assiduously created the impression it would counter Indian strikes with its own army, while stepping up the ante with “sub-conventional assets” – a euphemism for radical Islamist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT). Pakistan has repeatedly signalled that if this were insufficient to hold India, Pakistan would breach the nuclear threshold, starting with using its TNWs. To be sure, India’s nuclear doctrine mandated massive retaliation – an all-out nuclear attack, targeting major Pakistan cities – but nobody in Pakistan believed that rational and responsible New Delhi would retaliate massively, given that Pakistan’s surviving nuclear weapons would immediately riposte, taking both sides towards mutual assured destruction, with its fitting acronym – MAD.

All this is now in the past, with India having demonstrated resolve, unpredictability and indeed a political appetite for punishing cross-border terror attacks. India is now willing to deploy more than the longstanding options of “fire assaults” and “surgical strikes”, which allowed Pakistan to impose counter costs in the same coin. Instead, New Delhi could escalate to options where India is significantly stronger, such as air power and – who knows? – perhaps naval power next. For Pakistan, the comfortable old calculations and certainties are no longer valid. Strikes on Indian targets now carry a high risk of retaliation and escalation.

Second, India must ensure that its intent is supported by its ability. Regrettably, it remains disputed whether the IAF actually struck and destroyed the madrassa it targeted at Balakot. On Sunday, the air chief protested that the IAF “can’t count how many people died”, but nobody wants a precise body count. What India and the global community need to be conclusively demonstrated -- employing standard “post strike assessment” done with aircraft cameras, satellite photos, unmanned aerial vehicles or ground agents – is that India is not just willing, but also able, to strike its targets. This is equally true for the IAF’s claim to have shot down a Pakistani F-16, which also remains contested. In these days of aircraft cameras and airborne command platforms that track every second of an engagement, it is appalling that the IAF is unable to muster convincing proof of a MiG-21 shooting down an F-16 -- which would be a David-versus-Goliath triumph.

If India intends to continue along the path of retaliatory strikes, this needs to feature higher in our tri-service doctrine, service strategies and equipping priorities. Instead, these documents remain preoccupied with “preparing for a two-front war”, that most unlikely of contingencies. Prioritising cross-border punitive strikes would create a robust capability for dealing in a measured fashion with major provocations, without risking a spiral into full-scale war.

Third, and perhaps most crucial, New Delhi must remember that the roots of the current crisis, like others before it, lie in the estranged landscape of Kashmir. The hopelessness that drove a Kashmiri youth to offer himself as a Jaish suicide bomber is widespread, and could lead others down that path too. While the origins of the Kashmir dispute go back to 1947, the last five years have seen an unprecedented spike in Kashmiri alienation. The Valley’s Muslims are seething as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has implemented its Hindutva ideology across India. For Kashmiris, the killing of Muslims by gau rakshaks(cow protectors), initiatives like ghar wapasi(re-conversion to Hinduism), regulations preventing Muslims from praying in public spaces, and the “love jihad” bogey validate the two-nation theory, based on the idea that Muslims could never be safe in Hindu India.

Instead of the healing touch that is required, the government continues treating Kashmir as a security issue that is best crushed under the jackboot. Despite this, violence levels have increased over the last five years, more youth are picking up the gun and, most worryingly, unarmed civilians are willing to be shot down while confronting security forces. Yet not a single senior BJP leader has engaged in dialogue with Kashmiri separatist leaders. As long as Kashmir simmers in anger, the potential remains for another attack that could kill dozens of security men and spark another crisis with Pakistan. Only dialogue can douse the anger.

For a change a very good military analysis but unfortunately with biased political underpinnings.

The subhead of the blog article " After demonstrating its resolve, New Delhi must now focus on the alienation in Kashmir" and its analysis is not entirely objective and impartial. It is one sided. It may be true that the Muslims of the subcontinent view the rise of BJP and their ideology as a threat to them but what about they themselves, their ideologies and political cultures. Indoctrination of Kashmiri and other Indian Muslims communities towards stark fundamentalism, intolerance, non adjustments, mushroom like sprouting of Saudi funded madrassas, mosques, adoption of middle age styles of thoughts, appearances, apparels, rabbid international Jihadism and exclusivism had established itself much before BJP was even on the scene. The ruthless ethnic and religious cleansing in Kashmir valley was not a reaction to rise of Hindus but under the benign regimes of Left Liberal Secularism. It was the result of Pakistan narrowing down their objectives to Kashmir valley as became evident under so called Chenab formulas. Shah Bano was not a reaction to rise of Hinduism but without it and a byproduct of vote bank politics in the garb of Secularism. When it comes to dealing with Muslim sense of alienation in Indian polity, we have come back to the Muslim League position pre - independence - non acceptance of "Democratic Principles of Rule of the Majority". So what have we achieved through partition if we return back to pre-independence position of Indian Muslims ? Have not the Muslims of the subcontinent achieved more than their share ? Domination and rule over two countries carved out of India and ruling power influence and disproportionate role in India ? What do they want to feel part of it other than being the the rulers of leftover India ?

The sense of alienation amongst Kashmiris and other Muslim communities is religious and religious rather than any sense of socio - political injustice. In a democratic dispensation, religion may become and it does become as one of the valid competing group in the power play to gain and establish political influence. However it can not be allowed to become enemy of the established order, the state and the country. It can not be allowed to break the "Social Contract" so dear to Liberalism, Leftists and the Capitalists.Rationality suggest that if you have been quite on Islam threatening to break the established order in India and rather benefited from that, you can not deny the same to others.There can not be two sets of Constitution - one for minority Muslims and the other for majority Hindus. That is what is equality, liberty, social justice and secularism all about. The argument such as yours that new Delhi should not be ba allowed to be ruled by "Hindu Forces" even if achieved democratically to save Kashmiri muslims aliniation is irrational, unjust and untenable. It amounts to saying that I being anti Hindu am only entitled to rules. Democracy or no democracy. Only I am democracy and Secularism means giving incentives to Muslims and elimination of Hindus. What an argument ???

The solution lies in correcting this religious bigotism of Kashmiris which must be achieved even at the cost of state using its ultimate coercive force. That is what the "Social Contract" is all about. Or India will be guilty of allowing , aiding and abetting demise of the established international order post WW II. Pakistan is striving towards it.... Are you ?

What healing touch are you talking about? Please give examples of such healing touches that could be used in the valley. Its enough to just suggest something like that. Everyone knows healing touch is required, but nobody knows how.

India should keep hitting the Terror outlets of Pakistan, this will raise their cost of harboring the Terror policy. By this Terror policy they them self will destroy their country (As economy is already in shivering state). Remember only Punjab (Pakistan) is creating all the Terror issues ( Their Army is mainly from Punjab(Pak), terrorists also mainly from Punjab.

If their cost is increased by India,they will become weaker, the other Provinces will come more nearer to independence.

Spot on Sir!!! In the west, Modi and India have come across as the crazies. Look at the cover and article in The Economist for this week.

Unfortunately the senior Indian forces leadership too comes across as bunch of bumbling fools. They seem to be living in another universe and seem to lack rational thinking, like the comments from the IAF Chief on why PAF responded if we didn't kill....Seriously!!! does that mean IAF (or India) won't respond if PAF uses some space in India to test bombs.

Pakistanis apart from their bumbling military spoke person come across as very rational and thoroughly professional (even their retired lot).

Your current government has seriously damaged your nations reputation.

Finally, a sensible reading of the whole situation. The root cause of the worsening situation in the valley are the policies of the Modi govt. When Vajpayee was PM he went to Kashmir with open arms and invited Kashmiris to be part of the Indian economic success story. When people see progress in their lives they don't resort to killing others. And indeed violence had fallen to an all time low. Modi's policy has been one of suppression and humiliation of Kashmiris under the guise of nationalism. The results are there for all to see.

The article have some factual wrongs. Perhaps it is intentional. Expected more balanced journalism. Let's see:

1. First you mentioned that Kashmiris are more alienated in the past 5 years and becoming terrorists as BJP has implemented its Hindutva ideology across India. Funny Muslims across India doesn't feel the same way and becoming terrorists in hordes! Olive leaves has been offered to the Kashmiri terrorists for past 15 years during the UPA era, but does it yield any results? Perhaps the Punjab or the Srilankan way is a better way to handle the situation, as they have positively ended terrorism from much worse situation. And frankly the separatists are puppet and doesn't have any influence other than calculated blessing or nuisance value depending on which side you are on.

2. Second you are doubting whether IAF hit the targets and shoot down a F-16. Well, the IAF chief have categorically said that we have achieved our objectives and hit the target and a F-16 was drown. Evidence are available towards the same; however it is up to the Govt. to decide what to reveal as such evidence may expose some of our capabilities which are of sensitive nature. So you are willing to put the Chief on the dock and instead believe Paki propaganda. I expect every Indian to stand behind our armed forces now. Also what is the guarantee that if Govt. exposes the evidence, then opposition will not start crying that Govt. is politicizing the issue for election benefits. A catch 22 situation indeed!

3. Third I think you are wrongly praising Imran as the rational actor and our leadership as the irrational one. Pakistan is in no position to escalate the situation as all their friends including Saudi and Chinese have not come in support of their case and they have no money to continue a war. The "gesture of peace" (which anyway is mandated by the Geneva convention) is the only logical way for them to come out of this situation. And our leaders have actually acted in a rational way after a long time; I believe after 1971. The terror attacks are not just statistics in closed room discussion, they are real flesh and blood and I salute our leaders for taking this bold step.

Dear Sir,A very good article for those who read your blog including Pakistani friends.Considering the topography and geography of Indo Pak border and LOC , Pakistani bluff of use of mini nucs, the treat of the direction of the wind as elucidated by that loud mouthed slippery Mushraff, converting the landmass into barren desert, quieting the bells of temples ets as threatened by that stupid Pakistani minister a few days ago need to be seen in proper perspective.Wind is one agent of radio active contamination which is immediate in the aftermath of nuclear fallout. It is dangerous but superficial and not long lasting. Contamination through water (rivers, ponds, under ground water, rains and floods / clouds) is long lasting, more dangerous and very devastating. Any nuclear blast astride borders of Sindh and Cholistan will bring the dust to Indian Rajastahn and Punjab but subsequently get swept away by the water drainage pattern back to Sindh and Cholistan (Ghaggar, Hakra, Satluj, Ravi, Vyas systems of Drainage) . India is building so many dams upstream . Empty those and Indian areas would be decontaminated in a few days. Pakistan will be contaminated for ever. The ill effects of any nuclear blast in this area will ultimately be devastating for Southern Pakistan.Any nuclear blast north of and including Ravi Chenab corridor will be devastating for the Pakistani population and significant volume of water contamination would turn Pakistani Punjab into a barren landmass in longer time frame. Contamination around Kashmir valley or Leh Ladakh or POK would have unacceptable consequences and unthinkable. That would be Gazba-e-Pakistan rather than Gazba-e-Hind. India would do well to conduct an arial nuclear detonation here as a response.Where then is the area suitable for using a tactical nucs - not Delhi or Lucknow, I am sure. The limited area around Cholistan is not going to be areas of decision. Pakistan is not going to come there to save themselves. It is going to be Punjab and POK. Pakistan has no choice but to commit themselves there. There is no way Pakistan can even think of using mini nucs in those areas.I really do not know why are we obsessed with seeking decisions only the Blitzkrieg way. why not Dien Bien Phu way or Khe San way. Were not decisive and strategic battles sought there and ver large force drawn and decimated ? Let us nibble away Pakistan like rats. After all we have more rats than Pakistanis. Let us reach Muzaffarabad nibbling our way through LOC. The threats of sustained and attrition costly wars are real but we can't stand still. It is not that strategic decision have not been obtained that way. Is not it true that Pakistan has inflicted a more intensive attrition war on India which we are fighting since 1989. So let us respond on attrition war proactively and decisively on and across LOC. Threats of International intervention have also undergone changes. A slow nibbling action does not call for any international intervention.

Why has India wasted time waiting for mechanised banana to fall which is never going to happen. Let us begin. Let jhangar be the first objective so that we overlook Mangala dam. Let us be at Rawlakot. Let us be astrise Skardu. Let us get martyred there rather than in stinking Hundwara or Pulwama. Let there for more dams and storage areas to flood Pakistan with contaminated dust of their mini nucs.

Gau Rakshaks is not a nascent phenomenon after BJP govt. If Muslims in the country are worried about Ghar wapsi and Love Jihad, then the Hindus should be more worried than them. Centuries of violent muslim history in India and elsewhere around the world, the ruthless killing of BJP/RSS and other HIndu leaders across the country. The nonstop mass conversion carried out by christian missionaries will sure lead the majory Hindu population into a minority with no country of their own. Also Hindus are not a monolithic block like the Muslims and Christians.

SO to say that Kashmiris are picking more Gun because of BJP govt policies is foolish. Yes, one can argue that Kashmiris and Muslims and Christians in general dont want a BJP govt which acts like a Hinduthva party but in essence does do anything for HIndus. Not even RAM TEMPLE....

Gdmrng sir..'m a student,dept of engEngl,Delhi University,also working as an independent journalist..want your guidance on the subject of procurement of F-16 advanced version F-21..that india(TATA) was to partner with Lockheed Martin...is it true that this "F-21"..has not been purchased by any advanced country after 2005 onwards?plz..guide..

I have seen many of your writings on Kashmir issues but I sincerely believe that your assessment is no where near the truth...

The Kashmir alienation if there is one is due to the original concept of Article 370 and 35A by bumbling and womanizing stupidness of PM Nehru...

These two articles ensures the separateness of J&K and will not go away with any kind of benevolence from whatever Indian governments in power...

The separatists are not elected and are 100% stooges of Pakistani government and talking to their representatives and getting instructions and funding and fueling separatism...

They go to PO and get married there to be in good graces of Pakistan governments and their spouses gets J&K residency and Indian citizenship...Whereas the Hindus migrated during the independence still suffer as stateless citizens due to the politics of separatists, Muftis, Farooqs, etc

The separatists with the help of Pakistani terrorists committed genocide of Pandits, Buddhists, Sikhs, Gujjars, Christians, etc like in East Pakistan (5 million perished there) and made Kashmir area slightly majority...Indians are not welcome in Kashmir and their investments are not welcome in Kashmir as they are not recognized as locals.. even though they do not stop begging India for all the alms they can get...Even POK is protesting about Pakistani cruelties..

The Kashmiri alienation or Pandit, Sikh, Gujjar, Buddhist, Christian, etc alienation can not be solved until the Articles of 370 and 35A goes away permanently...

So kindly do some deep introspection about the genesis of problem and solution instead of pushing for talks that never went anywhere and will go no where...The separatists are not elected representatives and they are 100% in cahoots with the Pakistan and nothing good comes out with talks with them...

J&K is a dark hole for all the hard earned taxes paid by rest of India.. No more..

It is about time to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A...

It is about time that you have realized that from Kailash Manasarovar in Himalayas to Kanyakumari in Southern tip is all India and Nharat and belongs to its inhabitants Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians..

I hope that you have time for a deeper introspection and write a new article...

Disagree with the author on healing touch for kashmiris...we have been doing that since last 35yrs how has that helped the youth...I think the government needs a massive PR exercise to make them aware of the rest of India...it is the financial luring that keeps them attached/attracted to Pakistan.. what they dont know is the reality of Pakistan...in this war of perception our best bet is to create this image of the big strong no nonsense brother...the current strategy works really well in this regard.

Just imagine if there had been casualties, PAF would not have dropped their load in open space. We would not have an Indian COAS, along with most of the Kashmir command alive today. There would be a declared war now.

Rationality has gone from the Indian mind I am afraid. Not just from theie TV studios, but also from the serious analysts and public. Bollywood has won....until the mushroom clouds appear.

The real problem of J&K is the majoritarian existence of Muslims of Kashmir valley - being very typical, distinctive,paranoid, aloof and different with exclusiveness and ruthlessness, characteristics which centuries old subjugated mass / population acquires. The people there have undergone miserable tyrannies under Turkish, Persian and Afghan rulers if not the tyranny of Tibetan Buddhist rulers followed by tyranny of Sikhs and then Dogras. Aloofness and suspicion towards outsiders in the valley is not only geographical but also pathological. So much so that I have not found much commonality amongst the Muslims of Valley, the roaming Gujjars, Muslims of Rajouri, Punch, Udhampur and Ladakh. One can easily observe those traits even amongst Kashmiri Pundits of the valley.

Post independence they, specially the elites suddenly discovered that they have become the rulers of entire J&K which in history they never were. They have developed an acute sense of their political clout - majority of assembly seats from vally, The CM always from the valley, control over the vast resources of J&K , all facilities in the valley at the cost of other area. Seikh Abdullaha, cunning as he was, consolidated them further by encouraging Jamat -ul-Islam (J&K) by offering them various jobs and influential position. At Political level this majoritarianism of the Muslims of Kashmir valley is the key to their dominance and freedom. This sense of aloofness or alienation, if you may call it so as also desire of political dominance without any outside interference particularly from Delhi is what constitutes "Azadi" for them. The consolidation and azadi themes have though morphed into Wahhabi fundamentalism and successionism kind courtesy Pakistan.

So what is the solution ? The solution lies in capture of POK, Gilgit and Baltistan ether militarily or by other means and restore the structure of J&K of pre independence geographically and politically. There will an addition of at least ten assembly constituencies to J&K.That will end all slogans of Azadi, sense of "alienation" and end of singular dominance. That will sort out all Mufties and Seikhs. No "Gau Rakshak" or "Ram Bhakta" will have to blamed by cronies that have mushrooms in the Raj of Modi. The present problems of Valley will be over for ever.

Why do you think in 1947 / 48 those willy Nehrus and Seikh did not allow India Army to cross Tangdhar and take back all areas ? Seikh Abdullaha knew that Punchies, Baltis and Gilgit will not vote for him.This or Breakup of Pakistan are the only solutions to Kashmir problem.

The article is spot on!The fog of a false nationalism has prevented us from rational thinking.These people of the valley were peaceful gentle people both the pundit and the Muslim.Pakistan created discontent in the valley and fuelled the insurgency from across the LOCINDIA brutally repressed the people of the valley, they have killed thousands with impunity protected by special laws.Eventually (in the past few years) the insurgency become self sustaining, fuelled now by hatred towards India.Some people in the grip of rabid Hindutva (which is not hinduism) want the Muslim people of Kashmir to be integrated into a NON secular IndiaWhere all Muslims should live happily as second class citizens.The irony is blatant, the foolish don’t see it.That is why I repeat the fog of rabid nationalism leads to confused thinking.Thank God for sane voices like the writer of this blog bringing us truth.Our strength is derived from the secular wisdom of our constitution, we are only a strong nation in our unity and diversity.This Me Me Me Chaiwallah, along with his semi literates have hijacked my country with their wicked ideology.The damage will take years to repair after we are rid of this primitive ugly gang from NagpurVande Mataram

PAF——-Pakistan FM Qureshi identifies PAF pilots who he says shot down two IAF fighter jets. One IAF jet was shot downed by Squadron Leader Hassan Siddiqui while other was downed by Wing Commander Nauman Ali Khan.Pakistani did NOT provide any proof to back their claim of downing a second IAF jet. PAF would’ve the data, the audio transmission recordings, radar recordings to confirm IAF jet’s sudden disappearance from the radar to imply the kill. Where is that? Nobody is going to buy this!

IAF——The IAF also has the radar screen recordings and tracking from the Mig and AWAC Why isn’t it releasing it? It will conclusively prove or disprove that the Mig did or didn’t shoot a F16.Before crediting the kill to the downed MIG pilot Let's talk facts not claims.

The only way the Kashmir alienation is going to be solved is by abrogation of Article 370 and 35A which keeps the separateness...

As per your alienation solutions...

The separatists must first enter political spectrum and contest polls and get in to the assembly and show their strength...

The separatists come to India like beggars when there are floods and earthquakes and then like ingrates encourages stone throwing and harboring militants... They honor Pakistani militant dead bodies like they are Gods... they hoist Pakistani flags... They cheer Pakistani teams.. They watch Pakistani TV, news, etc.

No separatist ever said a kind word about shot and killed SPOs, women, even young boys who refused to join militancy... Has any separatist ever condemned a terrorist attack at all... at least one like Pulwama..

Mufti is worse than those separatists.. she puts FIR on soldiers and police and condemns their strong actions to keep peace... she does not condemn the lynching of police officers and killing of police officers...

Please kindly write an article asking them to contest polls and show their strength before talking about alienation and solutions...

The only way I see is the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A... It was the stupid idea of womanizing PM Nehru... Sardar Vallabhai did not agree and he stopped him from going all the way to Afghanistan border during police action...

Ask the separatists to contest Parliament elections and show their strength...I hope that you write an article soon...

Alienation is said to be a process through which someone or something is constrained to to be seen / become / conceived as the "other" which it actually not.

Kashmir or J&K has not become a Hindu majority state so far. No Hindu including Rahul Gandhi can dream of becoming a CM of J&K. So what is the fear of Hinduism? When J&K was amalgamated into union, India very much was a Hindu majority state. So what has changed ? Changes in India, as alleged by you , if any, have occurred through a democratic political process. Do you mean to demonstrate that legitimate democratic changes are unacceptable to you and Muslim of Kashmir? After all, successive governments of J&k can be stated to have been Muslim Governments under secularism till now if we follow your logic.It is all bunkum. The problems of Kashmir is Islamic fundamentalism. Please let us know what is the role acceptable to you for separatist / secessionist Islamic Fundamentalism with gun trotting terrorists under constitution of India which was declared as "secular" by Indira Gandhi vide constitutional amendment ?

So under your alienation theory which "other" is Union of India being perceived by Kashmiris. If your contention is that it being seen as "Hindu" then that was always there and Modi govt so far has not brought in constitutional amendment to declare India as a "Hindu" state. Why do not you say and admit is that if any thing has changed in J&K / India is that Muslims have become fundamentalists, accommodating, intolerant and undemocratic.And the solution of "Fundamentalism" is the Syrian model or Chechnyan model or Bangladesh model. Bangladesh can manage / stem Islamic fundamentalism but India can not. Why? Because........... because of pseudo intellectuals like you.

This is such a loaded sentence (ok two sentences) and exposes so much that is wrong with the so-called "liberals" or leftists in India: "The Valley’s Muslims are seething as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has implemented its Hindutva ideology across India. For Kashmiris, the killing of Muslims by gau rakshaks(cow protectors), initiatives like ghar wapasi(re-conversion to Hinduism), regulations preventing Muslims from praying in public spaces, and the “love jihad” bogey validate the two-nation theory, based on the idea that Muslims could never be safe in Hindu India." The BJP has implemented its "Hindutva ideology" across India apparently. What have they done exactly and why is it bad? You won't find answers here! It's left for you to imagine all kinds of horrible things it's done to cause the Valley's muslims to "seethe". Is killing by gau rakshaks BJP policy? Of course not but why not freely let you assume that by letting the sentences flow from one to another? How many have actually been killed by gau rakshaks? Probably less than the fingers on one hand! Should muslims be allowed to freely take over public places for praying? Is there any place in the world where people can simply take over public places for praying? Not in any organized society and not in muslim countries but here it's sought to be portrayed as a grave injustice to muslims that causes them to "seethe"! Are Hindus allowed to simply take over public land like the muslims attempt to do? Certainly not! But then this is just an attempt to justify the Kashmiri muslim's so called "alienation". The only reason for their alienation is their sense of apartness and the muslim ideology driven two nation theory. Are Muslim men encouraged to marry Hindu girls and convert them? Yes, of course, it's considered a very holy thing to do. That's well known but for Hindu's to protest this love jihad is not allowed! Are muslims encouraged to convert people to their violent ideology? Yes but for Hindus to try and protect their flock from muslim predation is illiberal and is a justifiable reason for muslims to "seethe". This "thinking" is so irrational and illogical that it boggles the mind but worthies like Ajai Shukla don't see it! They don't see their deliberate lies, their distortions and justification of the unbelievable violence that muslims have unleashed on Hindus! It's mind boggling